Negro Plagued Violence and Retail Theft Forces Englewood Whole Foods to close after just 6 years in neighborhood, leaving few healthy options - even though they were selling their products at 1/2 the cost of their stores in WHITIE NEGIGHBORHOODS - The store in Englewood Square Shopping Center is among six stores targeted for closure nationwide, including a store in Lincoln Park.

When you have to pay for armed guards while selling your product at half the cost while milking WHITIE for twice as much.... it just doesn't make business sense 

Phillip Backstrol was thrilled when a Whole Foods Market opened in Englewood six years ago. The 65-year-old neighborhood resident prefers to shop there for the variety of organic vegetables.“I thought it was great,” said Backstrol.

Now, Backstrol will need to drive somewhere else to find that extensive of a selection of fruit and vegetables.

The company on Friday announced plans to close the Englewood store that had opened with great fanfare as the anchor of a major development at 63rd and Halsted streets in a area long considered a food desert.

Another store, in the DePaul University Welcome Center in Lincoln Park, is also among six U.S. stores the chain plans to close in the coming months, although officials set no dates for the shutdowns.

“As we continue to position Whole Foods Market for long-term success, we regularly evaluate the performance and growth potential of each of our stores, and we have made the difficult decision to close six stores,” a Whole Foods spokesperson said in a written statement.

The announcement to close one of the company’s two South Side stores — it has a dozen in Chicago, largely on the North Side — comes just two days after it opened a nearly 66,000-square-foot location at 3 W. Chicago Ave. in the One Chicago high-rise.

The company provided no information on how the two stores being closed have performed financially, although Amazon, which owns Whole Foods, on Thursday announced its first quarterly loss since 2015.

Shoppers at the Englewood location were shocked Friday to hear they were losing not just a major grocer, but also a local hub; the store had been the site of community meetings, wine tastings and other events.

Lashay Shambley, who works nearby at the Chase Bank at 62nd Street and Western Avenue, said she’s not sure where she’ll get lunch now.

“There’s nothing but Popeyes, McDonald’s and Wendy’s,” said Shambley, 21. “I kind of looked toward Whole Foods for like a healthy escape.”

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